Breaking In
by redd7
Summary: Something's wrong with Dumbledore. The forces of Light may be imperilled from within. Only the grim Potions Master and his apprentice see the danger and hatch a plot to uncover the truth. Gently funny. HGSS
1. Plotting

These are not my characters, I'm not making any money here. 

A/N: This is my first fanfic I've actually had the guts to post and anyone who wants to offer constructive input -well, it's welcome. If you like, you can email at ***redd7@bigfoot.com*** (minus the ***s!) If you archive it elsewhere please list credit and email and give me a holler so I can bask.

  
  


"You're insane!"

Severus Snape merely raised an eyebrow at his rather put-out potions apprentice. Apparently his lack of satisfying reaction left her feeling that she had to reiterate the point, "Absolutely, bloody, plumb INSANE!"

"Finished ranting? Are we free to plan our little foray, or does our esteemed Miss Granger have more of her 'professional' opinion of my state of mind to offer up?" She actually sputtered! Rather gratifying really. Hermione usually put up more of a fight in their routine battles of wit, but he had so floored her this time that all of her intelligence which he secretly oh-so admired seemed to have jumped out the window and found itself otherwise occupied floundering around in the moat below. Five points to Slytherin!

"I certainly do!" she finally managed to spit out. "And I don't need to have a 'professional' opinion to see that you've really lost it this time! You...you've been sniffing too many potions! We'll both be fired! My career will be ruined. -You're career will be ruined! We'll be stuck brewing love drafts and contraceptives out of one of those nasty 24 hour shops in Knockturn Alley!"

Professor Snape allowed himself a sarcastic chuckle at the descriptive turn her hysterics had wrought. Love drafts...yes, that was a good one. And more prophetic than he wanted to consider if his proposed plan went wrong in any way. 

"Don't you laugh, you...you bloody bat! Oh...." She seemed to deflate finally onto a metal stool in their -ahem! HIS...potion lab. "Why me?" she plaintively asked no one in particular.

He chose to answer, however. "Because desperate times call for desperate measures, silly girl," though there wasn't much sting in his insult. Just enough to make her bottom lip jut out adorably. Er..stubbornly. She continued to glare at the flagstone floor. "I certainly can't ask any student to do this -they're all ninnys anyways. And I can't ask any of the other staff members, either. They're just too...biased. They don't have the logic to think of Dumbledore in objective terms. I just can't trust any of them enough. Not even enough to speak of this to them." He noticed that her glance had drifted upwards towards him though her head still hung. Well, he had a reputation to maintain.. "And they're all ninnys too."

Despite her determination to pout, a smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. "And I'm not?"

"Hrmph! Don't go fishing for compliments, girl. You may not find what you catch to your liking!" he growled.

As he hoped, she found this reassuring rather than threatening. If he was confident enough to be good old caustic, evil Snape then there should be nothing to worry about. Right? "I understand your point..." she began. He raised a cynical eyebrow. This time her chin came up defiantly, "well I do! I didn't get to be your first apprentice ever because I was muddle-headed _ninny_. I DO understand the problem. About the students and other teachers and all. And..." She paused to bite her lip pensively. "Dumbledore has not...been normal lately."

She corrected herself at the same moment he gave a rude snort, "even less normal than usual, alright?" This was an understatement. Even the students were beginning to notice. The Headmaster had been skipping meals on a regular basis. Indeed, he seemed to be missing altogether more than not these days. Hermione had attempted to maintain order in her world view and chalked it up to some secret goings-on the faculty was engaged in for the good of the students and the magical world and so on and so forth and of course, she, a lowly apprentice would not be called in to act on whatever plan they were hatching... And Severus Snape had just burst the thin walls of her little bubble of naivety quite soundly. The teachers didn't have clue either. There was no top secret project. At least not one that included anyone but Dunbledore -and -the possibility filled her with dread -and unknown outside forces.

"It's just that...as you are quite fond of pointing out -Gryffindors aren't exactly the models of subtleness, are we? I'm just not... good at this sort of thing."

"Bicorn horn and boomslang skin, Miss Granger? Or should I call you...Tigger?"

The expressions that warred across her face really were priceless and all she could manage was to articulate soundlessly for a moment.

Finally she growled at him, "The fact that you KNOW that just proves my point."

"It proves that you were careless with a potion. A flaw that I certainly hope we have worked out of your repertoire by now. You, however will not need to trouble yourself with potions this time around. You just need to distract the old codger long enough for me to search his office and quarters."

Hermione chose to ignore his unflattering description of the adored headmaster. He was just trying to rile her. "Can't you just go in while he's at lunch or something?"

"I need to KNOW he's not going to walk in on me. He's been so unpredictable lately, that's no guarantee -who's to say he won't just get up in the middle of his meal and leave?"

He had a good point there and he knew it. Albus had done just that very thing at several meals in the past couple of weeks. He decided now was the time to drive the point home. He was right on the verge of awakening her Gryffindor urge to stick her nose in and mungle into the middle of things. "You know as well as I do that his confusion lately-"

She gave him a pointed look.

"-His INCREASED confusion lately, the odd -ODDER -things he's been saying and doing lately, the faulty memory -are the signs of someone resisting the Imperio curse. It may be nothing, but if there's even the slightest chance that the Headmaster of Hogwarts has fallen under the control of the forces of darkness, we must establish that fact as soon as possible and act accordingly."

Hermione didn't fancy dwelling on what "act accordingly" entailed. One thing at a time. "Isn't there anyone-"

"I think you'd agree with me, if you gave it _some_ thought, that it's probably best that we keep this within the walls of Hogwarts for now." In the present political atmosphere, there was no guarantee that outside "help" didn't increase the chances of information reaching the ears of Voldemort.

"Harry? Lupin? The Weasleys?..."

"Personal biases aside -before you even bring it up -shouldn't we make every effort to quickly find out what's going on first, before we call in the calvary? It may be nothing, after all."

"You're starting to sound like Harry and Ron." Snape looked absolutely horror-struck at the comparison. "No, you deserved that. Just because I'm probably going to go along with your hare-brained scheme doesn't mean I'm not fully aware of your attempts to manipulate me these last few minutes."

Snape was clearly exasperated. "If you were going to do it from the beginning, why the argument?"

Herimone smiled down at the cauldron that she was carefully adding dropperfuls of bee venom to, "Well, I had to make you scramble for it a _bit_, didn't I?"

The potions master couldn't decide whether he should be taking away or giving points to Gryffindor.


	2. Commencement

These are not my characters, I'm not making any money here. 

A/N: Since I forgot to include my disclaimer last night (doh!), and also discovered that Hermione's name got into my spellcheck wrong (doh, doh, doh!), and had to reload it anyways, I've nipped and tucked this chapter a little. This is my first fanfic I've actually had the guts to post and anyone who wants to offer constructive input -well, it's welcome. If you like, you can email at ***redd7@bigfoot.com*** (minus the ***s!)

  
  


As they swept down the corridor, Severus Snape was secretly pleased that the girl had learned to walk proud in the last couple of years. He was fully aware of, and cultivated the impression he made on students -and others- with his billowing black robes and hawkish glare. It was a matter of projecting a presence which Hermione had somehow managed to pick up from him. If he was a great black crow of doom, then it was only fair to admit that in her preferred dark red robes and furious halo of reddish brown curls, she was a phoenix itself at his side. A pathway opened up before them like the parting of the Red Sea as they made their way to the Great Hall.

There was no doubt that Hermione was in an agitated state though. She spotted a Hufflepuff picking his nose in the corridor and docked him house points before Snape could, just to irritate him.

"I can't believe I let you talk me into this," Hermione muttered. "This is worse than the time you tried to talk me into slipping that engorgement potion into Harry and Ron's drinks."

"It would have been hilarious. You came so close too..."

Hermione rolled her eyes, "ok, yes, I'll admit it would have been. But it was their Auror's graduation -I couldn't very well have done that to them with them having to go up on stage and all."

"That, m'dear, was the whole _point_." He let her natter on, recognizing his young assistant's habit of getting chatty when she felt in need of courage. Bad trait for the spy business really, but as he hoped she'd never have need to further refine her espionage skills, he even encouraged her to talk, rather than have her dwell on more serious thoughts and getting nervous. He didn't want her blowing everything because she turned into a twitter-headed idiot from the pressure. "Bloody brilliant potion too. Took me weeks to perfect and I _still_ haven't got a good chance to use it."

He managed to incur another eye roll. "How you managed to target the engorgement _there_... Maybe after all this we can find way to slip some to Sirius Black." she consoled with a rather baiting grin.

"Hmmph! I *hardly* think he needs any encouragement-"

Once they reached the last corridor, Snape paused while Hermione sidled up closer to the doors. Better for him not to be spotted in the vicinity at all. It wasn't long before she returned to his side.

"He's there, for now."

"Excellent." Severus hurried towards Dumbledore's office while Hermione fell in behind him at a more sedate pace, preparing for her role in the plan.


	3. The Plan!

These are not my characters, I'm not making any money here. 

A/N: This is my first fanfic I've actually had the guts to post and anyone who wants to offer constructive input -well, it's welcome. If you like, you can email at ***redd7@bigfoot.com*** (minus the ***s!) If you archive it elsewhere please list credit and email and give me a holler so I can bask.

  
  


"Jelly baby!" Snape hissed, and then slipped into Dumbledore's office. They had planned their foray for that day, specifically because they regularly met in Dumbledore's office Wednesday mornings to discuss potions matters -both school related and otherwise. The "otherwise" being one of the reasons Severus finally took on an assistant after so many years. Potions work was invaluable in the fight against Voldemort. it was extremely unlikely that Dumbledore would change his office password in the few hours between their meeting and lunch.

Once inside, he first retrieved Hermione's notebook from a side table. It was out-of-the-way enough that they banked on Dumbledore not noticing it himself right away, which seemed to be the case. But it was still in a location that was reasonable if you took into account her hanging about the window watching the Care of Magical Creatures class outside -which she made a point of doing today. While at first it would have made more sense for him to leave one of his own notebooks, or Hermione to retrieve it herself, he foresaw several obstacles. First of all, he would never be so careless as to leave something of his with possibly sensitive potions data in it lying about, even in someplace as secure as Tumbled's office. The fact that he was there at this moment proved that point. Hermione wasn't -as she recently pointed out herself -as well qualified for a covert search as he was, and although he had no doubt that she would endeavor to do her best, as usual, she might overlook something. Besides, he didn't want to put her in a more compromising position than necessary. He felt that the story that he had concocted in case of accidental discovery was sound: that he had noticed her carelessness with the notebook and wanted to teach her lesson, but then had been unable to locate the damnable girl herself to retrieve the thing and wanted to review some notes she had taken during a joint experiment last week right NOW. It was surly enough to be believed by even the headmaster he thought. He would act sufficiently put out at not getting his chance to humiliate the girl that he would be able to sweep out in a hurry.

Fawkes was close to a pyrotechnic cycle, something that Severus had gratefully noted this morning, and thus was sleeping soundly on his perch as he was in the habit of doing when in that condition. Snape and Hermione had looked at several methods for pulling the wool over the phoenix's eyes, but having to do nothing at all was by far the most elegant solution. Still after a swift visual assessment of the office in which he saw nothing amiss, Severus made his way towards Dunbledore's private quarters. Best not to press his luck and risk waking the bird with rifling through things in the office if he could spot something in Dumbledore's quarters first. And if the Headmaster truly had something to hide, it seemed more likely that he would conceal it in his even more private inner chambers than out here in the office.

He tipped out the book, "Home cooking for the Allium-Sensitive Individual", that he knew triggered the hidden door to the rest of the Headmaster's rooms. The bookcase slid away, revealing a comfortable, if rather garishly coloured, parlour. However, just as he was about to pass over the threshold he heard voices from the hall outside and froze.


	4. Shocking news

These are not my characters, I'm not making any money here. 

A/N: This is my first fanfic I've actually had the guts to post and anyone who wants to offer constructive input -well, it's welcome. If you like, you can email at ***redd7@bigfoot.com*** (minus the ***s!) If you archive it elsewhere please list credit and email and give me a holler so I can bask.

  
  


"Oh please, Headmaster? It's such a lovely day out. We won't have many more before winter sets in. Just a quick stroll around the lake? It'll do you good." Severus was pleased to note that Hermione managed such a jovial tone, keeping out the edge of panic that she must be feeling at this point. Instead of backing out of, and closing up the doorway in case he needed to quickly fall back on his notebook story, he stayed where he was, choosing to trust Hermione's wits.

"Thank you so very much, dear child. But I really did have some other matters I wanted to attend to this afternoon. Perhaps a rain check?"

"Er...but that's just it of course! It might rain -any day now! And I really, really want to take a walk with you!"

"Well, again, thank you, Hermione. But I really need to address some things-"

Damn, damn, damn! Snape thought, and started to back out of the parlour.

"I really need to talk to you Professor Dumbledore! It's...important! Uh..really, really important!"

She must of indeed had an urgent expression on her face because Dumbledore's voice lost it's resolution. "Oh dear me, Hermione, why didn't you just say so from the beginning? i can certainly spare a few moments if you need to talk." Snape started to slip into the parlour again. "We can just duck into my office." Damn! Damn! Triple Damn! Snape quickly stepped back out of Dumbledore's parlour.

"No! uh...that is, it's something really, really sensitive! I don't even want to talk about in your office. one of the other faculty members might walk in."

"Oh I wouldn't worry about that. I just changed my password last night and you and Professor Snape are the only ones who I've had occasion to give it to so far. Hmm...must remember to speak to Minerva-"

"That's it! Er..him, I mean! Professor Snape!" Severus groaned internally to himself. Gryffindors! As subtle as a bludger to the head.

"Er..what, Hermione?" Dumbledore was clearly -er, audibly -puzzled by her babblings.

"Professor Snape! I, uh, couldn't possibly have him walking in on us. He can't know I've been to see you!"

Dumbledore sighed heavily, "Ah, Severus..." Still frozen in the parlour doorway, Snape frowned, "Don't worry Hermione, I'll speak to him for you. And I'll go further and ask you to be patient with him. I know he can be wearying to work with, but don't ever doubt that you are very needed for the cause, no matter what Professor Snape may say. He doesn't...mean...to be like that. He's had a hard time of it and it makes him socially closed off at times. But I still have hope that there's a worthwhile human being under all that dark demeanor." The possibly worthwhile human being in question drew himself up indignantly. That condescending old geezer! Wearying to work with! Try putting up with a sugar-deranged lunatic for a colleague! Worthwhile human being! That bloody, wrinkled, _prune_ of a- "I have some correspondence I want to deal with first, but then I'll call Severus to my office and read him the riot act."

"No! Wait!" This is what a child's yo-yo feels like, Snape thought inanely, as he teetered between Dumbledore's office and private quarters.

"It's not that at all! I mean, it's about Professor Snape -but not that! I..I really need to talk to you privately, you see..." Severus held his breath. Was there any way she could save the situation?

"You see..." Hermione continued, "I'm in love with Professor Snape!"


	5. The plot sickens

These are not my characters, I'm not making any money here. 

A/N: This is my first fanfic I've actually had the guts to post and anyone who wants to offer constructive input -well, it's welcome. If you like, you can email at ***redd7@bigfoot.com*** (minus the ***s!) If you archive it elsewhere please list credit and email and give me a holler so I can bask.

  
  


Severus Snape must have managed to snap his jaw shut before Dumbledore could, because all that he could hear out in the hallway was thunderous silence at Miss Granger's declaration of affection.

"Professor Dumbledore? Er..are you all right, sir?"

Back in Dumbledore's office an observer would have ben astonished to see Professor Snape collapsed halfway to the floor, hands clamped firmly over his mouth as he shook with silent mirth. Of course, if anyone had seen him in that state, he would have cursed their eyes out.

"Professor Dumbledore? Headmaster? _Sir_?"

"Oh. Oh my. Forgive me, my dear. You know, it's not often that someone manages to...completely surprise me...My...oh my."

"I'm...I'm terribly sorry if I've upset you..."

"No...no, it's quite alright child...er..so _this_ is what you wanted to talk about?"

"Shhh! Not _here_, Headmaster!"

"No, no, quite..."

"I know you're awfully busy..."

"Nonsense Miss Granger! I'll be glad to spare as much of my time and whatever paltry advice I can offer as you might need. Er...do you think we might stop by the kitchens on the way out to the lake? I'm feeling the need for...a little snack...chocolate, even...maybe the house elves can pack us a tea basket..."

"I think that would be ok, sir..." Hermione's voice faded as they departed down the corridor towards the kitchens. Severus confidently strode into Dumbledore's private quarters. That would keep the nosey old goat occupied for the rest of the afternoon! Twenty -no, FIFTY -points to Gryffindor for sheer gall!

There were so many annoying trinkets and knickknacks cluttering up the parlour that it was rather disheartening to try and figure out where to begin searching. hoping he wouldn't have to try, Severus crossed and went straight to the bedroom. On second thought...he popped into the bath and quickly scanned the medicine cabinet. No, nothing out of order there. What was he thinking, he berated himself, that the headmaster was a _drug addict_? No, the problem was, that he wasn't really sure what he was looking for. He began to rummage through the bedroom. There was so much _junk_ in here -how would he ever find anything? A bloody deatheater dagger could be sitting in plain sight and he might miss it! Snape shuffled through an astonishing assortment of things stuffed under the bed (he wasn't surprised to find that the headmaster read _comic books_, but what on earth did the man want with a life saver from the Y.B. Kahoku???) before he gave up and checked the mattresses. That yielded nothing more than a disgusting array of lost sweets. Disgusting! Really, Dumbledore shouldn't eat in bed....

Snape strode to the closet and turned to survey his fruitless results before starting in on the daunting task of sifting through the overstuffed closet. Well, he thought, he could put that off by going through the nightstand first...really though, if a man wanted to keep something secret, the last place he tended to put it was in his nightstand. It was so... obvious. Still, you never knew about Dumbledore. The nightstand looked so innocuous though. A water glass and a white pitcher painted with mostly chipped off clowns stood atop it. A dark wood really. Oak? Suddenly Severus strode purposely back across the room. No, you never knew about Dumbledore, did you?

He performed a revealing spell over the nightstand. A quill, a bottle of green ink, and a ridiculous bright yellow book covered with multicolored pigs appeared. Gotcha! Hah, Albus, you didn't clutter your nightstand _enough_. 5 points to Slytherin! 

An observer would note only a slight hesitation before Severus picked up the book and began to read, but of course Professor Snape would curse the mouth off of anyone that would dare to suggest he had any compunction about reading Dumbledore's personal diary.

He spent a long while looking through the journal before putting it down and crossing over to the closet, clutching a piece of cheery pink folded paper in his hand. Now he knew what to look for. After a quick scan he pulled out several boxes that looked to be promising.


	6. Ahrgg! WRONG Secrets!

These are not my characters, I'm not making any money here.

_A/N: Collective thank you for all the encouraging reviews. Sorry this took so long -busy time right now. On "Gotcha!" and Americanisms -my auntie and her friends make use of the phrase (tho to be fair it sounds more like "Gotcher!" with some of them, but i can't see Sev with such an accent!) -perhaps it is a regional thing? Any suggestions? On chapter length -I look for natural breaks, not word count, so yeah, they're weird lengths -usually my problem is being too long. Not __trying_ to upload them all on one day -thats just FFnet toying with me. On Sirius: more like blatent denial vs. AU. I'm stubborn: he's gonna come back, I tell you!!!!

  
  
  


Dumbledore leaned back against the apple tree he was seated in front of, balancing his tea cup on his knee. Hermione finishing filling her own from the bottomless thermos the house elves had eagerly supplied. After some consideration, the headmaster and the potions apprentice had decided the orchard overlooking the lake would be the best place to rest the bit it would take to thoroughly discuss such a sensitive issue.

"So... how long have you had these feelings for Profes- um, Severus? If you don't mind me asking, of course?"

"Oh, no. No, that's quite all right. After all, I asked you here to talk to me -to help me sort out my feelings for... Severus. Hmm...let me see...um...I guess it was a gradual thing, so I'll have to think for a moment. I did feel bad for him at times, you know, throughout my school days, because, he seemed so... lonely at times. And then when I realized that he was a double agent against Voldemort, I started to see some of the reasons behind... how he was, who he was and I think... I started to understand some things better."

Dumbledore nodded, understandingly, but didn't interrupt.

"Umm.. like at dances and such -he didn't seem to me to be just _mean_ when he went about zapping couples in the rose bushes. He seemed so _angry_. And it just made me think of all the things he had to be angry about."

"I don't see him doing that as much, lately."

"Hmm? Oh I suppose not. I'm not much one for those type of things myself -anything I have to put formal robes on for is bound to be a pain. I guess I've been a bad influence on him there." Dumbledore's expression said quite plainly that he found the idea of Herimone Granger being a bad influence on the unpleasant Professor Snape an unlikely scenario. She chuckled, "No, really! You see, I discovered his weakness for good port, and from then on made sure to procure a supply before dances or any other such event."

"You've been getting Professor Snape DRUNK?!!"

"Oh! Goodness, no! (_Well, maybe once in a while...but that wasn't my intention..._) We just have enough to get him to...loosen up a little...so he isn't in a bad -er, worse than usual? -mood the _whole_ night. We put in as little as appearance as we can get away with as staff and then sneak off to the portrait gallery above the hall."

"Ah, I'd forgotten that was there."

"Well, yes, that's rather the point, isn't it? Because YOU lie in wait and sweep down upon any faculty member who would dare depart out of the hall itself early!"

All Dumbledore said was, "Care for a biscuit?' as he proffered the plate in her direction, eyes a-twinkle.

Hermione only dignified _that_ with a rather Snapeish snort.

"So you two just head up to the gallery and...drink port all night?" he asked, still feigning child-like innocence.

Hermione snorted again. "Sorry to disappoint you, Headmaster -no extended snogging sessions for the potions staff!"

"Well, one could hope...."

"Professor! If I didn't know better, I'd almost say the rumors were true!"

"What rumors might those be, child?"

"Something along the lines of _someone_ being a interfering, gossipy, old _coot_ of a busybody..."

"Ah, you've been talking to Severus about me!"

For your _information_," Hermione resisted rising to the bait -Dumbledore had nothing on Professor Snape's ability to goad, "we generally spend the evening _talking_."

"Ah yes, just talking." Dumbledore had the temerity to actually look disappointed! "About potions, I suppose?"

"All right, yes, about potions! But that usually leads to other subjects-"

"Books." Dumbldore supplied, sagely.

"There's nothing wrong with sharing a literary interest! _You_ like books! Or are all those stacks in your office just meant to impress people? Honestly, if that were the case, one would think you would have taken more care in choosing the titles; "The Inner World of Poultry' indeed!"

Dumbledore was openly chortling now, "I'll have you know, that title has been of great use to me in dealing with Fawkes on a number of occasions!"

"Oh, you!" Hermione chucked a biscuit at the giggling headmaster, "If you don't watch yourself, I'll let Fawkes know you're referencing him as 'poultry'!"

"Well, before you do that, let me assure you that many a romance found its beginnings over a book. Bumping into a new someone in the library, study dates, -I hear people even go to bookstores these days to purposely meet other people, if you can believe that. I think it's rather nice when people read to one another too. And a good poem can be so helpful for expressing one's feelings when one can't find the words..."

Hermione gave the headmaster an odd look. He sounded almost wistful. Who _was_ he talking about, anyways? This was her and _Severus_ after all. "Honestly sir, though we discuss other literature, I don't think we've ever read anything out loud to one another besides potions tomes."

"Not the most romantic fare." Dumbledore said rather distantly.

"Well, no. And can you imagine me sending Severus a poem?!"

Dumbledore suddenly seemed to snap back to the here and now. Really this was just the sort of behavior that had her and Professor Snape so worried in the first place. He didn't seem to be aware at all of how...odd he'd been just now. "Well, perhaps you could give it a try."

"Sending poetry to Professor Snape?!"

"Er, no...even I wouldn't try that -er, if I had a reason to be writing poetry to Severus -which I wouldn't..."

Hermione nodded, though she suddenly wasn't quite sure what she was agreeing with.

"No, I meant the reading to bit. Something non-potions, but clever still. Not..."

"Foofy?"

"Well, for Severus, yes -not foofy. Is that a real word? I rather like it. Have you ever read "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight"?"

"Yes, actually. Though it's been a long time. But that _is_ poetry, isn't it?"

"Well, it's versified writing. But it all was in that day. But it's not a potions text and it's not a _foofy_ poem. Lots of interesting symbology there, magical and otherwise. Lots of ice-breaking discussion material. Hmm...I'll have to look through it again, myself."

Hermione looked dubious. Yes, symbolic Sir Gawain. That was quite a discussion topic, wasn't it? Her eyes narrowed. Best not to go there.

"Or there's always Alice in Wonderland!" he continued cheerily, "I do _love_ that Cheshire cat-"

"Ahem, Headmaster?" The look she gave him was enough to even jolt Dumbledore back on track.

"Yes, well, I'm sure you'll find something suitable. But try it, Hermione. if not sooner, than at least next time you two are hiding out in the gallery. You can't talk about just potions and literary interests forever and hope to progress, I'm afraid." he said rather sadly.

Hermione had a rather evil glint in her eye. Dumbledore suddenly wondered if perhaps Severus had given his share of bad influence after all? "Oh we don't just talk about those things, Professor,' she drawled.

"Really? I thought you said there was no snogging?" he dead panned.

"You know," Hermione continued pinning the headmaster with a rather steely gaze. He wondered if Professor Snape had actually worked on teaching her how to do that. Rather disconcerting, really. "one thing we do, is just watch the people below and discuss their behavior and personalities. For someone who is socially closed off, Severus has a lot of interesting observations and insights into others -nosey old goat." Her eyes twinkled. 

Dumbledore smiled back unabashedly. "You did ask to discuss all this with me." he reminded her and ducked another biscuit, "and I'm glad you've noticed that our Severus has a many-layered personality. That rather helps eliminate the possibility of this all simply being a school-girl crush. Is that welcome news?" Really not sure, Hermione suddenly was very absorbed in plucking at the grass. "But that wasn't what you were originally about to say, was it?"

Hermione chuckled despite herself. How _does_ he do that? "All right. But if Severus EVER gets wind that I told you about this, he'll transmute me into a flobberworm!" Dumbledore leaned forward, _very_ interested. "All right. One time, after plying him with...particularly good port, I produced a 'Tabitha Twinkletoe's Guaranteed Dance Manual'."

Albus Dumbledore's eyes were positively wide. "Hermione Granger, are you about to completely shock me for the second time in one day?..."

"I should get some sort of an award." she confirmed. "Not for dancing, however. I could only follow his lead. When he actually puts his mind to it, Severus is actually quite talented -er, on his feet, that is."

"Are you telling me that all I had to do was glance up and I would have seen Severus Snape waltzing about with his potions assistant?..."

Hermione could practically see the gears working and she found that alarming. One hundred points from Gryffindor, for sure! "I mean it, professor, not a word!"

And then she couldn't help a little smirk, "And waltz, nothing. That man can TANGO!"


End file.
